TIP OF THE MONTH                             

DISCLAIMER:  I consider myself a serious student of self-defense and do not pretend to know everything nor do I believe my way is the only way.  What I will present here is my preferred method based on experience and what I have learned from experts.

WHAT SHOULD I PRACTICE?

This is a question that we often get asked at our training classes and the answer is simple – EVERYTHING YOU CAN.  We all know that’s not possible because most of us only have a limited amount of time, if any to dedicate to practice.  With so many different techniques being taught today it’s hard to narrow it down to just an essential few that will give us the “biggest band for our buck”.  Not to mention the increase in ammo cost, even if you reload, makes practice prohibitive for some of us.

When we do find the time for practice, our skill level has a lot to do with what we’ll want to spend our time on.  If you are an advanced shooter you will have specific “weaknesses” that you’ll want to eliminate, so your practice session should be more focused on those.  A beginner will want to work on the basics like sight alignment and trigger control.  Most of us will fall some where in the middle where we need to practice everything. 

I recently read about a practice program that Clint Smith (Jan/Feb 2006 issue of American Handgunner) advocates and it covers all the essential techniques and only requires 100 rounds of ammo! 

Because I’m limited by space I can’t give you the specifics of the program but here are the techniques he stresses:

MARKSMANSHIP                                                    20 rounds

RELOADING                                                              10 rounds

FAILURE TO NEUTRALIZE/STOP                           19 rounds        

DRAWING                                                                 20 rounds

MALFUNTION CLEARING                                      21 rounds        

STRONG AND WEEK HAND                                  10 rounds

(If you are unable to find the issue or would like a copy of Clint’s 100 round practice, let me know).

Also, don’t forget to add dry firing to your practice program.  It doesn’t require a trip to the range and absolutely NO AMMO, plus can be done at your convenience. 

Remember what your mother told you – “practice makes perfect”.